By Judie Brown
As very young children we learned that there really is a devil. We might have imagined him as a figure dressed in red with a long tail and a pitchfork, but the fact is he was once an angel—until he defied God. Since that day, Satan has been spreading his evil messages and whispering in the ears of fragile people who find it impossible to resist his siren song. That is the simple reason why there is so much evil in the world.
Saint Ignatius called him a liar and the father of lies. A recent article explained: “One of the striking meditations that St. Ignatius offers in the Exercises is called ‘The Two Standards’ or flags. Here, the retreatant is invited to contemplate the armies engaged in the spiritual battle for souls. Christ’s army is already victorious through his Death and Resurrection, and yet Satan’s army is still clearly at work.”
Such distinctions between good and evil often appear muddied in our secular world, but they are quite real.
The proof is all around us, including this striking example from Canada. Allison Ducluzeau was diagnosed with cancer. A surgeon involved in her treatment explained to her that the best thing she could do was to get her affairs in order. He even asked her if she wanted medical aid in dying, which is a synonym for euthanasia!
This suggestion is really not so far-fetched when we consider the creeping spread of diabolical practices so prevalent everywhere we turn, including in the actions of Kamala Harris, the vice president of the United States.
A White House briefing statement reports that Harris is dedicated to ensuring the protection of all forms of reproductive “healthcare,” urging educators to “test, implement, and share the strategies discussed during today’s convening so that their campuses can serve as models for other schools throughout the country.”
And we always thought schools were places for growing in knowledge and building integrity, not workshops specializing in Playboy philosophy! Again, the devil is in such programs, and manipulation of the young is one of his specialties.
Perhaps the most egregious example of serpentine temptation manifests itself in the guise of justice. A federal appeals court, which should be above reproach in matters of respect for the innocent and the young, has recently decided to rule on the question of whether or not the state of South Carolina can cut off funding to Planned Parenthood.
At issue is the case of Julie Edwards, a Medicaid patient of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. Edwards is claiming that “the governor violated her civil rights when he disqualified” Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding.
Planned Parenthood and its allies equate birth control and abortion with the duty of the state to protect the civil liberties of citizens under the 13th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution.
As ridiculous as this may sound, it is but another example, if not the most flagrant, of how evil ideas are paraded as human rights and demanded at all costs. This is how ingrained evil has become in the minds and hearts of many of our fellow citizens.
When we ask why there is so much evil in the world, we are actually emphasizing a simple truth that unfolds anywhere that a crisis of faith is exhibited. Father Jacques Philippe said it best: “Our great drama is this: Man does not have confidence in God. Hence he looks in every possible place to extricate himself by his own resources and renders himself terribly unhappy in the process rather than abandon himself into the tender and saving hands of his Father in heaven.”